Brighton Beach Memoirs: Neil Simon's Coming-of-Age Comedy

Neil Simon changed the course of his career when he wrote Brighton Beach Memoirs, the first play of his Tony Award-winning Eugene Trilogy. Never before had Simon's writing been so personal, reflecting the actual individuals and hardships that defined his Depression-era youth. Brighton Beach Memoirs centers around Eugene Morris Jerome, a Jewish American teenager in the throes of puberty. Complicating Eugene's coming-of-age are the relatives that crowd his family's Brooklyn apartment, including his parents, his older brother, his aunt and his two female cousins, one of whom he finds far too attractive for his own good. Critics have praised the play for its humor, but also for its clear-eyed look at the tough choices that faced many American families in the '30s. Brighton Beach Memoirs has all the force and vitality of real memories -- and like them, lingers in the mind for years.